Signal.



W. R. HONEYBALL. SIGNAL.

APPLlCATiON HLED MAR. 20. 19N. RENEWED JUN 25.1916. Lse Patented Mm. 13, 1917.

2 SEHEN-SHEET 2.

f5 'ff Umann eine. f

WILLIAM ROBERT HONEYBALL, `0F PASADENA, CALIFGRNA.

SIGNAL.

T0 all whom t may concern.'

Bc it known that l, lViLLIAM ROBERT llosizvnxin., a citizen of the United States, residing at Pasadena, ,in the county of Los Angeles and State of California, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Signals, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in signals, and more vparticularly to electrical signals. The leading feature of my inven;`

A further object .of this invention is'to provide novel signal mechanism whereby the chauffeur may manually control the operation of a particular signal to be conveyed from the rear of the automobile, such as left, right, etc. The principle involved in my signal mechanism is einbodied'in a drum formed of a circumferentially extending series of signs actuated electrically so that any one of said signs is adapted to be exposed separately through a sight opening formed in a sign box, said drum being designed to move at varying intervals of duration and being automatically stopped so that one of the signs may be exposed.

lVth the above and other objects in View my invention consists in the combination, ar-

rangement andt details of construction disclosed in the drawings and specification, and then more particularly pointed out in the appended claim.

In the drawings wherein similar reference characters designate similar parts:

tion;

Fig.. 2 is a cross sectional view thereof, taken on the line 2-2 ofFig. 4;

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional View of my invention talfen on the line 3-3 of Fig. 4;

Fig. 4 is a longitudinal sectional elevation of my invention giving a top plan View of the inside of the sign box;

Fig. 5 is a diagrammatic view of a means for causing the stencil to move -insulated relation upon Figure l is a front elevation of my inven- Specification of Letters Patent. {Patnted ELM-+13 19,1% Application filed March 2o, 1914, serial No. 825,962.

Renewed July 25, 1916. SeraVNo.l 111,281.

step by step; and

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic view of the electro-magnets designed to control a given number of signs or signals.

Reference being'made to the drawings,l

there is disclosed a sign box or casing of any suitable construction designated' l. This sign box is provided at'2 with a suitable sight opening through which will be exposed, one at a time, a series of characters or signs 3, adapted to convey any desired signal', these signs being circumferentially carried by or upon a rotatable drum 4, the latter being fixed upon a shaft extending longitudinally within said casing. The usual number plate 6 will depend, preferably, from the casing or'box l, extending the lengt-h thereof. A partition 7 may .divide the casing into two compartments S and 9, the latterbeing designed to hold a lamp l0 which will cast red beams across to the bulls eye lens ll mounted at thevforward side of the casing, a redlight being required by law. Y VAnother-lamp l2 will be secured in the compartment S so as to shed its light upon the translucent drum 4, thereby enabling any of a series ofy signs carried by said drum to be well illuminated at night. Both lamps l0 and l2 may be included in one circuit, the description of which is dispensed with, as it relates to no part of my invention.

'It will be seen that one end of the translucent drum 4 is open, and in this end projects the lamp l2. Fixed upon one end of the sha-ft 5 is a cog wheel 13 and meshing therewith is a toothed segment 14 fixed upon a lever 15 fulcrumed upon apivot carried by a bracket 17, the latter being secured in a solenoid or electromagnet 1S secured upon the angular lug 19 formed upon a longitudinally extending supporting frame or bar 20. A second supporting frame or bar 21 also extends longitudinally, together with the bar 20 in said drum 4, being preferably disposed parallel to said bar C20. A link 22 pivotally connects the lever 15 intermediate its ends to the solenoid core 23 which, under the well known laws of electro-magnetism, will, when the electromagnet 24 is energized, move or slide inwardly 'of the magnet, being attracted thereby.

I willnow describe the automatic mechanism ferassuring that the drum will be roincrease in its duration or interval ofmovement. A seriesl of disks 25, four in number where four signs are to he separately displayed, are fixed in spaced relation upon the 5 shafts 5, each of these disks 25' being provided with a single ratchet tooth 2G. The four ratchet teeth 26 carried by the disk all occupy diierent'positions relative to each other upon the circumferences of the disks, being positioned at intervals of a quarter ycircle as is clearly shown in Fig. 5. Four magnet controlled pawls `27 are4 adapted to engage with the four ratchet teeth in such a way as to engage with the substantially plane surface 28 formed upon each disk.. Inasmuch as the pawl-actuated means is similar for each pawl it will suffice to describe but one, it being understood, however, that four 29, 30, 31 and 32 will be actual magnets secured in two pairs, each upon one of the bars 20 and 21, as illustrated in Fig. 4. A solenoid core 33 will be slidably mounted within each of said electro-magnets 29, 30, 31 and 32, and secured to each one of said electro-magnets is a bracket arm 34 similar to the bracket arm 17 this bracket arm as well as that numbered 17, having a contractile spring 35 secured to it, the opposite end-t of one of these springs being secured, in one case, to the lever 15, and in the other case,

to the ypawl 27 which is fulcrumed at its lower end as atf36 to said bracket arm 34.

' 'A suitable switch plate 37 will be located so as to be readily accessible to the operator or chauii'eur of the car. Four contact buttons' 38'are arranged concentrically upon saidplate near its periphery, and a pivot 38 is mounted directly on the center of this plaie 37 upon which is fulcrumed one end 40 of the lever or switch 40 which carries the handle/41 by means of which said lever may be turned so as toabut any of said contact buttons 38. The numeral .42 designates a source of energy, such as a battery, and a.

' wire 43 leads from one side of the battery 42 to the collectorpivot 39. Leading from the opposite side ofthe battery is a wire 44 to the coil of electro-magnets 18 and this wire 44 is connected in series td each of thel remaining electro-magnets 29', 30, 31`and 32,

the latter being connected, to the first mentioned side of the battery by means of thev respective wires 45, 46', 47 and 48, which are connected to the Contact buttons 38.

The mode of operation of this invention will be explained as follows: The signs 3 -will be separated an equal distance upon the drum 4, whichA distance is equal to the spacing 0f the ratchet teeth 26. The operator grasps the leven or switch 46 and brings it into contact with either of the buttons 38.

The circuit will' then be closed both to electro-magnet 18 and to the particular electro magnet of the series 2S), 30, 31 and 32 intended to be energized so that both electromagnets will be energized at the same. time. This will cause the respective solenoid cores 23 and 33 to slide or move inwardly ot said magnets, and when this occurs, in one case, the link 22 will draw the lever lrdown- 70 wardly so that the toothed segment will rotate pinion or cog wheel 13, and shaft 5W will turn therewith, but as the disks rotate with said shaft, as soon-Ins the link 46 carried by each of the pawl-opeiating electromagnets is moved inwardly against the tension of the spring 35 adapted. to normally hold the pawl 27 out of range of the disk in question, the pawl will be pulled down so as to have its t'ree end directly opposed to the 80 ratchet tooth 26 formed upon the disk, thereby projecting in to the path of movement of said tooth and preventing the rotation of the disk, shaft 5 and'drum 4 and thereupon will be exposed opposite the a given si sight opening 2.' In the same way any of the other pawls can be operated, and then another and" different sign will be exposed through said sight opening 2. When the lever 15 has been pulled down its spring 35 90 p will be put under tension and, therefore, as

soon as the switch 40 is -moved to a neutral position, as shown in Fig. 6, the magnet will be denergized and the spring 35 will recoil, allowing the segment 14 and pawl 27 to be 95 restorex to normal position ready for another operation.

Modifications within the scope of the claim may be resorted to in practice without departing in principle from the details of construction disclosed.

Having thus gescribed my invention, I claim:

In combination, a casing provided with a sight opening therein, an electric lamp ar ranged interiorly of saidA casing, a transpar-k ent drum having one end closed and rigidly secured to said shaft and its opposite end open and arranged around said lamp, electro-responsive means for rotating said shaft, two pairs of magnets arranged on opposite sides and cooperating with said shaft for allowing the latter to make a complete or partial revolution, control circuits for -said magnets, and a supporting bar foreach of 115 said pairs of magnetsl and `arranged below the sight opening, said bar passing through the open end of the drum-andseeured tothe casing.

In testimony whereof I aliix-my signature V12o in presence -of two witnesses. s

WILLIAM ROBERT HONEYBALL.

"f1 Witnesses M. EVALINE MCKEE, H. SIMPSON. 

